The Set up:1. Spin rope dart in front of you in big circle so that it is going right to left at the top of the arc.2. Wrap it round the right thigh once by sticking it out while the dart is at the top of the loop. After it has started to wrap round you need to let go with the right and catch the rope after it has swung round the leg. Now grab the rope with your left hand at a point between your right thigh and right hand. Oh and put that right foot down now.

So you should be in a standing postion, and if we trace the rope. It starts in your left hand, goes down between your legs around the back of the right thigh, up to the left hand, to the right hand which should be happily spinning the dart end. Note the rope doesnt completely wrap all the way around the leg.This is the setup position for both following tricks

1. The right kick out:With your right hand spin the dart in a circle going back wards on your right side. (From front to back at the top of the arc).As the dart spins back raise the right leg, and out slightly to the right with the knee slightly bent. The aim here is to wrap the dart end of the rope around the right calf. A rough line of the rope would be outside the right knee, around the back of the calf, wrapping around to the front going from the left side of the shin towards the outer ankle.As the rope become taught acrros the shin, extend the leg. This should flick the dart forward so let go of the left hand. The two open loops should cancel them selves out and the dart should fly out to the full length of the rope.

2. The Left Kick outSlighly easy to do and starts again with the rope held in an open loop with the left hand around the right leg.Start doing a low weave ( I think thats what its called) with the rope-dart in the right hand(Not being so co-ordinated at poi I need a sissy set up spin )As the dart spins behind you from right to left at the bottom of the arc.Bend the left knee moving you calf into the path of the rope. This should cause the rope to start twining the ankle. Before it completly wraps it tying you in a knot an making you hop all around the park, kick the left leg forward and let go with the left hand. This should undo the open loop and make the dart again fly out to the full length of the rope

Posted:18th Aug 2005An alternative setup is to throw the rope dart between your legs straight back, let go with the right reach behind and grab the line again.Bringing it back to the front with the right, hold the rope with the left somewhere between the right thing and right hand.

Posted:20th Aug 2005Aye, i would make a video but to be frank I suck....well kinda.I'm not much of a performer Because I'm relatively new to this spinning thing but have a long back ground in kung fu I can do techincal things and tricks but cant string them together in a routine (same with my poi-ing really)I've been able to look at the ropedart videos and dissect the individual tricks and know how they work but this man's got no rthym Heh, but at the end of the day its all just about having fun

Posted:30th Aug 2005I have a couple videos of me and my buddy doing some fire stuff with our rope darts. I can make one with a few tricks if you'd like? we have a few things up our sleaves. I'll try to do some of it slow cause it has a lot of wraps and ty ups so yah. Just say if you want me to post them

Bettering yourself is not beating someone else, its beating what YOU did before. Even the most knowledgable can learn from the beginners and obviously vice-versa. Stick together, help others out, there is always something new and exciting to learn.

Posted:30th Sep 2005Fire Yeah! I <3 the ropedart. I've been rope/fire darting since about May and have many tricks and wraps down. Anything that brings the martial arts appeal to fire I love. As far as tricks of the trade I'll have to try and type up some directions for some different wraps, un-wraps, and kicks I've figured out. Ropedarting is mostly about self teaching and toying w/ it even though you must use caution. Practicing w/ a real ropedart can be unforgiving if your not careful...trust me I know.

Posted:20th Oct 2005heh heh heh i got bored today so i made myself a practice rope dart out of some string and a door wedge, it works so well!!!!

and i got a few kicks for you aswell, probabily know them, but for those that dont here goes.

First can be done on either side but i'll explain it on the right side. Spinning forward (clockwise) when the dart reaches the top of the circle and starts coming infront of you, lift your foot, with the toes pointed to the right, and your knee slightly bent, catch the string about 1 foot away from the dart, and let it start to wrap, as the dart reaches the top of this smaller circle, point your toes and kick forwards and it should fly infront of you.

Second can be done either from standing, if you're fast enough, or with a little momentum. Its easier with momentum, so start it swinging infront of you like a pendulum(sp?), you want the point of rotation to be about head height and the dart about an inch off the floor. you dont need much momentum, as i said it can be done from still, just before it reaches it peak on your left, bring your left foot infront of your right knee, with the toes facing away from you, as the string hit your foot, gently kick to the left, it shouldnt wrap your foot, but flick off to your left. (Note, you will lose balance and fall to the left, but 1) this adds to the strength of the flick and 2) your foot will catch you)

to do it from stationary, again, hang the dart about an inch off the floor with your hand about head height, put your left foot on the right side of the rope infront of your right knee again, and flick a bit harder than before, and you should get a similar effect

Posted:20th Oct 2005heh heh heh i got bored today so i made myself a practice rope dart out of some string and a door wedge, it works so well!!!!

and i got a few kicks for you aswell, probabily know them, but for those that dont here goes.

First can be done on either side but i'll explain it on the right side. Spinning forward (clockwise) when the dart reaches the top of the circle and starts coming infront of you, lift your foot, with the toes pointed to the right, and your knee slightly bent, catch the string about 1 foot away from the dart, and let it start to wrap, as the dart reaches the top of this smaller circle, point your toes and kick forwards and it should fly infront of you.

Second can be done either from standing, if you're fast enough, or with a little momentum. Its easier with momentum, so start it swinging infront of you like a pendulum(sp?), you want the point of rotation to be about head height and the dart about an inch off the floor. you dont need much momentum, as i said it can be done from still, just before it reaches it peak on your left, bring your left foot infront of your right knee, with the toes facing away from you, as the string hit your foot, gently kick to the left, it shouldnt wrap your foot, but flick off to your left. (Note, you will lose balance and fall to the left, but 1) this adds to the strength of the flick and 2) your foot will catch you)

to do it from stationary, again, hang the dart about an inch off the floor with your hand about head height, put your left foot on the right side of the rope infront of your right knee again, and flick a bit harder than before, and you should get a similar effect

Posted:20th Oct 2005I recently decided to start experimenting with a homemade rope dart out of rope and a monkey fist

I've tried something similar to your first trick and I've also been trying wraps around my arms, basically wrapping them round my bent arm so it goes round the elbow and when it shortens enough to start speeding up, u time it so that when you straighten your arm quickly, it flicks out and launches at a considerable pace (for a heavy monkey fist fire poi head anyway).

Posted:20th Oct 2005come to cambridge yeah elbow.....i keep wanting to call them throws so i will!

yeah elbow throws are cool, doesnt really work with my string dunno why, i'll have to play when the weather improves.

i got another kick if you worked them out already, this one is a little more nut risky, but works well, and looks cool if you dont hit yourself.

start by swinging it around your head with you right hand, so that when it is infront of you it is going right to left. When it is passing behind you bring your hand to about waist height (now comes the hard part) as you bring your hand down, bring your right leg infront of you, knee bent and foot pointing up, and as the string comes round catch it on your heel so it passes around your heel and under your leg (just past the afore mentioned nuts), then when it has done just over 3/4 of a circle kick forward and it should fly forward.

DISCLAIMERi take no responsibility in lost children as a result of this or any othe rmove i suggest

Posted:3rd Nov 2005*runs away to practice*still no luck stealing a camera, i might rent one, but it seems a bit of a waste maybe i can pursuade lazy to bring one to a sunday meet and i'll bring my tripod

Posted:4th Nov 2005i've been working on what i call Arcs recently, basically like a judo throw with the rope dart, they involve a twist of the body, a quick change of rope direction, and it swinging in an arc over your head/shoulder. i'll try to explain the main one ive been working on.

ok start by swinging the dart infront of you in your right hand in an anticlockwise direction, at the bottom of the circle let it shoot and hook your foot under the rope and turn to face the opposite direction with the rope over your right shoulder, as you turn, pull the rope in, and flick your foot up, the dart should fly over your head.

Posted:4th Nov 2005Well, I don't know many kicks.... here;s what I have...

When you do a basic underhand throw (or whatever the term is... where its swinging clockwise on your right side and you just launch it forward from the bottom of the circle), if your flexable enough (I don't think it takes much...) you can kick your right foot up to make your leg level with the rope of the rope dart and lean your torso backwards (thus balancing on your left leg, making you look like a fat capital 'T')... it looks cool.

For kicks, there is the right foot wrap (which can be done in either direction, spinning clockwise or counter clokcwise apparently, though backwards I think is harder). If you do it backwards, it will shoot forward better. If you do it spinning forward, it has a tendancy to shoot upwards, but can be made to shoot forward.

Here's a nice complicated one to try... not a kick though... spinning backwards (clockwise, or whatever) on your right side to start, bring your right hand up to your shoulder so the back of your hand is touching the shoulder (doesn't actually have to be touching, but gives an idea of hand placement), which puts the PALM facing upwards. Let it wrap around your right bicep and into your palm. Grab the rope with your ring and pinky fingers, and at the same time 1) tuck your right arm in closer to your body so it doesn't wrap again, 2) turn the RIGHT side of your body toward the left-side and 3) swing the rope over to the left side of your body weave-style. Now only turn your RIGHT side, because on your left side, you need to stick your left arm out in the same way you did your right arm, and let it wrap around the bicep and into the palm of the left hand. HOWEVER your left hand is still holding the other end of the rope as well, in thumb and index finger, so grab the rope with the ring and pinky fingers again on this side. This should put the dart about pointing up and backwards (but still swinging backwards). You are now completely tied in a knot (apparently), with the left hand swingin the dart, and hopefully with your hands relatively close together aroudn chest level. Now just shoot the cart from your left hand, and straighten both arms out toward the target at the same time, letting go of everything but the left hand index and thumb (the end of the rope!). Everything will come unraveled at the same time, and the dart will shoot out to its target. Then grab the rope with the right hand on its way back and your back to normal.

It seems rediculously complicated... and it looks that way, which is why its so cool. For anyone currious, this is similar to what Jacky Chan does with the horseshoe in that one Western movie with Owen Wilson (You know the one), right at the end where he seems to be all wrapped up and just shoots all of it out really quick at the end. You can in fact STOP it in the left hand, OR grab it again with the right hand and shoot from the right, etc. Basically, all this does is shorten everything up in to a tight little ball and then you just shoot it and straighten your arms to pop everything off to unravel. Kinda like a spool of yarn. I guess. Maybe.

That backwards kick is cool... Ive always wondered how they did that. I could never figure that one out. Thanks!

Oh, and swingin it around in a big clockwise circle above your head and dropping it to waste level allows you to do a bunch of cool ariel maneuvers if you can swing them. I can't but here's how they work... That little heel (nut cracking) swing can also be done with the left foot as well. Right after the rope makes contact with your left heel (I think instep works better for control purposes) jump off with the right leg. Swing the right leg up OVER the left one, turning your body 180 degrees in the air to land on the right leg on the other side. It actually all has to be done in one fluid movement, but the effect is similar to doing a weave with your foot, only the rope dart actually stays on the same side, and its your body that flipped to the other side.

Use in a combo like this: lift your left leg and swing it under (horizontally) it, and then put it down and raise the right leg and swing it out from under it, to swinging above your head for a beat, then do the above. Let it unwrap from the bottom of your left foot and bring it above your head for a beat, allowing you stand up staight again, and then do the nut cracker shoot (hehe, I love making up new terminology) previously described by Vampiricacid. You can build a lot of momentum this way, and it looks wicked if you can do it.

Also, its possible to shoot from ariel moves like this, but it requires some pretty specific muscle control of the shooting leg, and I doubt most people can do the ariel part anyway... I mean hell, I can't, but I can ALMOST do this one.

Can anyone do the over the back shot? Or heck, an overhand shot period? Gravity works against them, but they are possible. Ive seen Jacky Chan do it so it must be. I think it is kinda related to isolations in poi, but somehow you can keep the forward momentum and shoot it out in an arc.

Thanks you for your comments. I think it took so long to get these up cos I'm a little shy and afraid of showing myself. But these have given me a little more confidence and I plan on going to get some more footage this weekend (depending on weather)But I'll only continue posting them if people actually want to see them so let me know.With regard to that, I think 5m files give nice clarity and size. Is that ok with everyone. And do poeple find the arrow and tips handy?

Beefy, those are some nice tricks there. I know a few other trick where it looks like you're all tied up but arent (the wonder of open loops) but the sad thing about then is you cant really do them with fire

I'm not sure which over the back shot you're talking about but the easy one is swing the rope behind you with your right and catch it with your left, so that it forms a loop around your waist. Thats the setup. Then just swing it under the left arm pit and let go of the left hand and it should do a high arching type shot.

I know (the thoery of) how to do a back kick trick but havent got it nailed as it involves wrapping around the heel which I cant do. And my ankles have the bruises to prove it.

Finally. What does everyone use as a dart? I've proper rope dart thats a solid metal spike and I've just got lost my fear of it so the tricks are coming out a lot faster. But man does it hurt when it goes wrong!

ok so spinning infront of you in your right hand with the rope going anticlockwise put your left wrist into the path and catch the rope, now (the tricky part) do a through wrap, so the dart goes behind you (this would be so much easier if i had a video camera), but keep your elbow out so the rope catches on your elbow, and then punch forward and the dart shoots with your hand.

Posted:7th Nov 2005The ariel ones I can't really do, but they are doable. The combo I have up top is quite difficult, as at one point you have to go from bending over forward with your left leg stuck out behind you to standing up with your left leg out in front of you... If you go slow, its doable, but its darn tricky with speed. Or maybe Im just fat and slow...

I use a real dope dart. Always have. They hurt, but then I havn't done much with speed or power, so its usually not that bad, and the tricks I do are rather limited so far.

Im not really sure... The one over the back shot I'm THINKING of I think can be done from full swing and doesn't need to be looped behind for a setup. Swinging it front-back (wall plane instead of side-plane I guess?) when it comes in front of you, you bend in half and kind of step to the right a little bit and it shoots from under your left armpit, over your back in an enlongated arch. Might be what your talking about, might just be a different application of the same concept.

That is the only tied up move I know... I love them because audeinces can't wrap their heads around what I just did usually. One second it looks like I'm tied in a knot, the next Im throwing the whole thing out and all that... The one Jackie chan does in SHanghi Noon is even more complicated than this... I think he uses his feet in part of the tie-up too, but they don't show enough of it to know for sure. I'd love to know what other tie-ups you know!

Keep the videos comin. If you know, or can figure out, the tie-up I posted, please make a vid for people cause I don't have a camera...

Posted:10th Nov 2005And one other question, how longs your rope and where do you hold it.Seeing as I learnt most my stuff from Kung Fu vids and books mine is with arms out streacthed to the side. Holding one end in left hand it goes from finger tip to fingertip and then with the dart dangling just off the floor from the right hand.

When darting the loose end is tied around my left wrist.

Just curious to know how others do it, cos I reckon I could get some new trick with a longer rope but then it'd mess up the trick where you tie it with a cross on the back....